Copper Queen Mine

The presence of copper ore in the Mule Mountains of southeast Arizona may have been known as early as 1876, but the first mining claim was filed on August 2, 1877.

[4] In 1877, a U.S. Cavalry patrol from Fort Bowie was tracking Apache Indians and camped at what was later called Iron Springs.

During his search he found a spring along a very large cliff of limestone, later known as Castle Rock, and on his return an outcrop containing lead carbonate, which was known to carry silver, in a gorge later known as Tombstone Canyon.

Dunn told his commanding officer Lt. John Rucker and a packer named Ted Byrne of his discovery.

They named the find the "Rucker" and planned to file a claim, but were delayed when their patrol was ordered to resume pursuit of a band of Apache warriors.

Over the next six months his name is mentioned either as the locator or witness in several other claims in the Tombstone Canyon and Mule Mountains and established what became known as the Warren Mining District.

Reilly persuaded engineers DeWitt Bisbee, William H. Martin, and John Ballard in San Francisco to visit the mine, and they were pleased with the prospects.

[8][9] James Douglas, of Phoenixville, Pennsylvania who had invented new methods of smelting copper, learned of the Warren mining district early on.

Offered the choice of a flat fee or a 10% interest in the property for his services, he chose the latter, a decision that subsequently made him a fortune.

[12] The surface pockets of cerussite were soon exhausted, but the owners found that the orebody ran 23% copper, with silver and gold as byproducts.

The surface oxide ore was exhausted after three or four years, but miners explored deeper and eventually found even larger orebodies.

As proposed by the mayor and volunteers seeking an alternative economic base, the company agreed to allow part of the mine to be open for tours.